Archive of ‘Decor’ category

I seem to always post about chairs, writing this blog seems to have uncovered a little problem of mine! However, once you see this beauty by French creator, designer and architect Philippe Starck you may start to have a little obsession of your own…

Introducing the Louis Ghost Chair in all its glory!

Isn’t it just lovely?

Starck reinvented the classic Louis XVI armchair for Kartell back in 2002, in a sturdy yet elegant transparent polycarbonate.

I love how versatile it is – it would fit perfectly in both ultra-modern interiors, or in a more traditional setting.

For the dining room…

They almost camouflage into any space, which is clearly why over a million chairs have been sold since their inception.

A million and one…

Not willing to fork out a small fortune for one of these, I set my TradeMe notifications up a very long time ago to email me when one became available. A few weeks ago I was lucky and somehow managed to swoop in and purchase one of these beauties to complete my office.

It really is as perfect as it looks (yes, complete with a white sheepskin throw) and to be honest my boring old office chair never really stood a chance. The old chair is now banished forever, and my new lovely bargain chair is ensconced in its new home!

As mentioned a few weeks back, I am about to get cracking reupholstering my 1950s pair ‘o chairs. After a lot of scouting around and researching the different types of durable upholstery fabrics, I have settled on a heavy-weight velvet fabric called ‘Zenga’ from Charles Parsons.

There are so many fabric weights and patterns out there, I have to thank ES Design for helping me streamline my decision! I wanted something relatively easy to do, so my love for geometric pattern was scrapped, and it was recommended to go for something plain and in a darker shade.

Velvet upholstery inspiration

The velvet fabric featured in the photos above is luxurious and textured, and i’m just swooning over the aquamarine tones Jonathan Adler used! This fabric style will definitely make my chairs cosy and current, and will last for many years of wear and tear.

Now bring on my upholstery course in July, so I can order my fabric and get cracking! I can’t wait to show you my progress, and hopefully it all works out well. Excite!

Our kitchen at present is a mixture of 1970s farmhouse meets failed modern.

You can tell that it is the original kitchen left til last to tackle in our modernized home – the amount of rimu wood that has been used is way up there, and the maroon bench tops are clearly not something that I would pick! However, it has lovely sunshine in the morning, a great layout, oodles of space and a large pantry that you can fit a whole person inside (including all your kitchen knick-naks to channel your inner domestic goddess!)

Photo credit goes to our real estate company Harcourts, back in 2012.

Since we moved in nearly two years ago, we have replaced the old dishwasher (it was the first to go after less than a month’s use!) splashed out on a gleaming new oven and cook top, and replaced the sink tap. Gone are the white appliances, and they have been replaced with shiny new silver ones. I’ve been itching to get my hands on the rest ever since.

This is when I get the sensible voice of my husbands’ in my ear, and I somewhat agree. There is no point in fully gutting and replacing this kitchen of ours if we intend on keeping this place as a rental eventually when we move on. As you may well be aware, kitchens are the most expensive to remodel in a home, and budgets can get blown very quickly! So, we have compromised, and have sussed out what we are keen to do as a ‘mid-fix’ if you will – considering there is actually nothing wrong with the kitchen itself – it’s just plainly not my style.

What we’re thinking

Remove the rimu cabinetry and sell it to someone who can put it to good use!

Install new cabinetry (white?)

Replace the bench top with something more subtle (Marble? Neutral and flecky?)

New kitchen inspiration

I did think about painting over our rimu wood, but since it’s actually quite valuable (and I nearly gave my Dad a hernia when mentioning it) it seems to be a better idea to sell it to recoup some of the kitchen costs. I’ve pretty much settled on the splash-back wallpaper, and next on the agenda is getting quotes for the cabinetry.

Exciting plans afoot then! Has anyone painted over their wooden kitchen cabinets or have a cabinet maker they can recommend to me? I can’t wait to get started! I love to cook so this is just going to add to the baking projects I post on here… everyone wins!

I don’t know what it is at present, but skimming through my Pinterest stream I seem to have been encapsulating a lot of moody black, white and gold. Could it be the changing seasons? The current sales? My magpie tendencies? One can only guess the inner workings of my creative mind!

So a round-up: here are a few things – both of interiors and fashion – that have caught my eye this week:

We visited the wonderful Hawke’s Bay again a few weekends ago, and not having crash-hot weather meant we had to take in a little bit of retail therapy!

Havelock North had an array of rather cute boutiques and I had a great time wandering through their beautiful wares. After being on the hunt for an art-deco era bar cart for a while, I cut my losses and picked up this mirrored tray stand at one of the shops.

Here is a sneaky-peek how i’m styling it currently:

As you can see my hydrangeas are STILL blooming..

Eventually i’d like the top and bottom to have an array of my crystal decanters, cocktail bits and pieces and whiskey glasses, but having quite a few little people running around the place these days I may just keep them away until everyone is a bit older!

Thanks to the husb for my Valentine rose.. it’s like he knew I needed a third item to make the look complete!

How cute are these dotted designs below? I think it must’ve been Designlovefest that first got me hooked on gold polka dots. I’ve had their gold confetti pattern on the background of my iPhone for ages now, and from that it must’ve latched onto my subconscious!

I can see that mug appearing in my kitchen cupboard as well as the tumbler (heads up guys, it’s my birthday soon!) and some cushion covers like the above wouldn’t be too hard to make.. a rainy weekend project perhaps? The spotty brolly would definitely add a little glam to your drizzly day, and I envisage the tape beautifying any gift-wrapping so that’s a cheap and easy must-have!

And oh, that wedding cake.. let’s just say if I was going to renew my vows it might have to be something like this! Swoon!

See how I clearly justified purchasing everything above? Terrible! Don’t worry, most of the time I just look!

On another of my Pinterest hunts, I stumbled across Aussie creative Anna Spiro. Anna has her own interior design practice and boutique Black & Spiro in Brisbane, which she fills with unique and beautiful things she has collected from all over the world.

Round and Round the Garden & Rosey Posey Trellis

What isn’t there for me to love? With three striking designs available in a myriad of colours, i’m having trouble picking a design for my home, and now am completely rethinking the feature-wall I had planned for my front entrance!

Amongst my last minute Christmas shopping last year I came across the wonderful animal prints by Kiwi artistEvie Kemp. A trained designer and illustrator from Auckland, Evie has created a variety of colourful prints featuring not just birds as below, but other creatures with strong personalities too.

I love how Evie’s prints are so bright and visually engaging – they sure add a certain liveliness to any space! I don’t know what it is right now with bird prints – but I really feel they are doing their thing at the moment with interiors!

So of course I had to leave with these…

I bought these two above in A3 as I had an ideal pair of gold frames lingering in my home from a school fair a few months back. My pair of swans now live in the hallway, watching over the cat tripping in and out of the cat door.

With Evie Kemp’s artwork featuring in a range of stores throughout NZ you will have trouble leaving with just one print. Not just content with my swans, I even left with a budgie and cockatiel for one of my friends, and she was delighted!

I don’t know about you, but I had all these amazing intentions this year to get the Christmas present shopping done and dusted early. However, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind for me with trips away, a new job and family moving home so I didn’t really get as organized as I’d like! Next year maybe i’ll just get everything done online… less stress!

Here are some cute and funky things I am coveting this year – with lots of sparkle and gold included of course!

The other weekend we travelled up North to the beautiful Hawkes Bay with some of our lovely friends, to spend three days taking in the sights and sounds of Napier and its surrounding towns. So far Wellington has been a bit dismal, but man, Napier was stunning! We had highs of 24 degrees, and spent a lot of our time outside enjoying the much-needed balmy sunshine.

Of course we went here…

The batch we stayed in had a wonderfully sunny patio area, where we dragged the cane furniture outside and draped ourselves over it for maximum relaxation. It got me thinking about what accessories are required for a beautiful outdoor setting, and so I thought i’d show you some things i’ve found recently.

Oh I crave that egg chair! (What is it with me and outdoor chair cravings?!) Too bad it is from a while back so it will never be in my possession. I’m such a fan of bright and quirky for the outdoors, and the items above are no exception.

Freedom has a great range this year (as per usual) but I think the only thing i’ll splash out on this year are the fairy lights.. always a crowd favourite! We have plans to build a pergola over our large deck eventually, and these would loop over it perfectly. I’m thinking solar lights, some climbing wisteria… and maybe a spa… i’ll keep dreaming!